The AM in TEAM

There is a saying that there is no i in team.

That is true, but I was reminded last week there is AM in TEAM.

On March 5, 2025, the AM (Armstrong McGuire) team gathered for a day of learning, centering, and reconnecting. Team members traveled to the Triangle south from Virginia and north from  Florida with many launch points in between. Together we represented 1023 combined years of nonprofit experience. Two team members each represented more than four decades of leadership in our sector, now there is a lot of wisdom! Both of these women have been catalysts for and witnesses to a lot of change over careers of 40+ years.

And change was an underlying theme of the day. Senior Advisor Katie Weeks led us through an activity (as only Katie can!) to help us better understand one another’s professional strengths and interests. Katie also asked us to state our unique superpower. During the activity, I realized that while our team has a variety of professional experiences and a myriad of superpowers, one common thread is that our team members have been leaders of change. Throughout their careers, AM team members have led organizations, boards, staff, and communities through change.

It reminded me that the nonprofit sector is and always has been championed by people who seek change—who seek a different outcome for a community or population of people. Change is the superpower of our sector.  

So, as we navigate this current period of uncertainty in funding and policy, let’s not fear change. Let’s embrace it; covet it; cherish it. Let’s see change as the gift it has always been—the chance to think and act differently. In many ways, change is the reason the nonprofit sector exists.  

And let’s also acknowledge that change can be exceedingly difficult and sometimes painful. At times we must grieve a loss before we can embrace a change, which was why recentering ourselves in our values was a critical part of our conversation.  

For 21 years, the AM team has leveraged our unique superpowers within the context of our shared values:

Integrity. We lead with care and candor. Experience. We have walked in your shoes. Relationships. People are the center of everything we do. Results. Our client’s success is our success.  

Together, we have learned that leading change requires the deepest integrity and is most effective within the context of a high-trust relationship. Change management is shaped by experiences, the experiences not only of our team, but of the organization itself.  

As Oscar Wilde famously said, "Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward." And so, we cling to our collective lessons and use them as a guide. When the change is complete, we celebrate the increased impact and effectiveness of our clients—our partners, and we are grateful for the chance to have been a part of the transformation.

The National Council of Nonprofits says, “Charitable nonprofits embody the best of America. They provide a way for people to work together for the common good, transforming shared beliefs and hopes into action. They give shape to our boldest dreams, highest ideals, and noblest causes.”  

Such a cause as this at such a time as this requires no less than embracing the change afoot with integrity, experience, relationships, and results. I am proud to be a part of a TEAM that embraces and embodies these values each day.

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Shannon Williams is the Managing Director of Armstrong McGuire and leads the team of Senior Advisors who help our clients with organizational development, leadership development, and fundraising.